From our first target of £15,000 to our second of £40,000 was a big jump, but we have now achieved this figure.  We have set a new target of £50,000.  There is no definite answer to the question of how much we need and, of course, we have had some expenses (chiefly construction of our website and fees to a PR consultant).  We think the £50,000 will be enough for us to take the initial step of applying for Judicial Review.

Christmas is a time for giving.  Let's go for it.

Forging Ahead

Wow! What a result! Within seven days we reached our target of £15,000, and in a further five days we have hit £20,000. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has supported us. Your contributions illustrate what a vital campaign this is. Together, Oldies Fight Back

We have, however, in this fight for fair indexation, a long way to go. We have named a stretch target of £150,000. We don’t need that much to launch a judicial review, but it would be nice to have that sort of amount, to appoint high calibre lawyers.

We do, however, need more than £15,000. I need to explain why we have set a target which is not in itself sufficient. This is because ours is not a normal CrowdJustice campaign. We shall in a few weeks be opening a campaign for the general public. At present, the campaign is aimed at PPF and FAS members who will gain personally if we can win our battle. The PPF will not tell us who these people are. Our main effort now is finding groups of people who are in PPF or FAS. We are doing quite well, but this will take time.

For this reason, we could not set a high initial target. In the Crowdjustice system, it we don’t meet the target within a month, the whole thing is cancelled, and we lose any chance of winning the indexation. We had to be prudent and went for £15,000. 

We are now going to aim for another goal: £40,000. This will be a significant landmark, but cannot lead to any cancellation by Crowdjustice. It is our goal, not their goal. It is legally not possible for us to state how much money is needed to launch the Judicial Review, but this amount should put us into the right territory.

Please keep spreading the word in every way you can. Most important, please try and find us another group of PPF or FAS members. It will be from some company which went bust. It might be an e-mail group or a Facebook group.

The Guardian highlights the impact of high inflation on Pension Protection Fund pensioners. 

Despite the modest drop in interest rates today, interest is still close to 8%. PPF payments, even for those fully indexed, are capped at 2.5% which month on month impacts PPF pensioners. The oldest, with no indexation, see their pensions rapidly shrinking in real terms.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jul/19/how-high-inflation-affects-everyone-from-borrowers-to-savers

Don't forget to join us on social media. Follow and like "Deprived Pensioners" on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin. Help us get our message out to all 260,000 members of the PPF & FAS affected.

Hitting the press again ... "Pensioners miss out as PPF lifeboat fails to match inflation", today in 'This Is Money'. 

Tom Parry helps explain the real terms hardship affecting members of the Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme. "One pensioner, 78-year-old Mike Wilding told us that he has to keep working to top up his pension, which rises by just £100 per year, despite originally retiring when he reached 65." You can read his story below...

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-12306589/Im-working-78-260k-pensioners-miss-PPF-lifeboat-fails-match-inflation.html#comments

'Devastating' pensions technicality means 260,000 risk inflation hit with no protection. 

Nicholas Dawson writes: Campaigners are calling for compensation as they claim some 260,000 pensioners are deprived of inflation indexation. Mon, Jul 17, 2023

Read here in full:  https://www.express.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/1791892/pensioners-not-protected-inflation-compensation

Please share to 5 friends and colleagues to spread the word - we need to reach all 260,000 members of the PPF/FAS. 

And sign up to Deprived Pensioners if you haven't already. 

Together #oldiesfightback!

Exciting news! Today, Mail on Sunday covered our story. Award winning journalist, Tom Parry has written about our cause in full on p.65. He interviewed elderly PPF member Mike Wilding, aged 78, who really brings alive the struggles so many PPF members face, due to the unfair Pension Protection Fund pre-1997 rule. 

Support Deprived Pensioners - together we can fight back against the PPF injustice. 

Please share this update with 5 friends on social media and help reach all 260,000 PPF/FAS members affected.